Mattress and bed spring.



0. R. HUNT. MATTRESS AND BED SPRING. rum) JULY 26, 191

Patented Jan.2, 1912.

2 SHEET 58331, l.

U. R. HUNT.

MATTRESS AND BED SPRING.

APPLIOATIOH FILED JULY 28, 1919.

1,013,294. Patented Jan. 2, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OZELLO R. HUNT, OF CHICAGO, ILIPINOIS, ASSIGNOB TO THE SIMMONS MFG. 00..OF KENOSHA, WIBCONBIJ, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

MATTRESS AND BED SPRING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

, Patented Jan. 2, 1912.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I OZELLO R. HUNT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Mattress and BedSprings, of which the following is a specification.

.This invention relates to im rovements in mattress and bed springs, anrefers more particularly to s rings of that type in wh ch a series ofcoile springs are connected side bly side over the area of theconstruction;

springs being generally hour-glass shape Among the salient objects ofthe present invention are to provide a construction in which the sprinare reliably united in such manner as to orm in effect a continuoussurface fabric et nevertheless are capable of being folde or rolled upalong any of the lines of juncture of the springs, either longitudinallyor transversely of the con struction; to is specially suitable for useinside of a double-faced mattress, by reason of its capability ofbending and folding without in- 'ury, by reason of its extreme comressiility and by reason of the uni ormly smooth surfaces provided forcontact with the mattress both above and below; to provide aconstruction in which the spring units are so united as to provideperfect hinge connections with each other, yet the adjoined wires are soheld as to be practically noiseless and ractically incapable ofdisplacement from t eir proper relations to each other; to rovide aconstruction in which each end of each unit is s anned by a bridge wirewhich precludes t e forcing of thesmaller coils of the spring axiallybeyond their limits of elasticity, and therefore prevents the springsfrom becoming permanently distorted; to provide a construction in whichthe adjoining springs are provided with interfitting correspondinoffsets and insets, the contacting parts .0 which are held in the sameplane by clips, thereby affordin a reliable hinge connection, absolutelyocking the springs against rovide a construction which from thefollowing description, reference bein had to the accompanying drawings,m w l0h- Figure 1 is a plan view of a section of springs showing. therelative arrangement and manner in which they are connected; F1%2 is anedge elevation of the part shown in ig. 1; the manner in which thesprings may be flexed upon each other in folding up being shown indotted lines; Fig. 3 is a detailed plan view of one of the springs andfragmentary portions of adjacent connected springs; Fi 4 is a sectionalview taken on line H o Fi 3; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of t esprings; Fig. 6 is an edge elevation of the spring shown in Fig. 4compressed.

Describing the preferred embodiment of my invention shown in thedrawings, the springs there shown are of the hour-glass type, theopposite sides of the spring structure being recisely identical,although it is obvious t at the invention may be utilized, so far as onesurface is concerned, when the springs are of cone-form.

Each spring 1 in the preferred construction shown has its large terminalcoils, as 2, 2', provided with four abrupt bonds, as

i 3, 3', 4 and 4, arranged in pairs at ri ht angles to each other, i. e.at 90 apart. he bends 3, 3', are radially outset, as best seen in Fig. 3while the bends 4, 4', are radially inset, an in connecting up thesprings they are, with reference to these insets and outsets, arrangedat right angles to each other; the outsets 3, 3', of one spring beingarrangedto fit within the corresponding insets 4, 4, of the adjacentsprings. The adjacent internesting or interfittlng portions of thecontiguous springs are united and held in the same plane by suitableU-shaped clips 5; these clips being referably formed of sheet metal andprovi ed in the ends of the U-arms with registering apertures 6.

To hold the clips in their adjusted positions, 5. e. embracing theinterfitted parts of the sprin s, bridge-wires 7 are provided; eachspring eing provided at each end with one such bridge wire, the ends ofwhich are looped through both ears of each clip, as shown clearly in thedrawin s. As a feature of, some importance in t at it contributes to thenoiselessness and reliability of operation of the structure, these bride wires are of a length slightly less than sulf'b cient to reach fromear to ear of the clips when the coil which it bridges takes circularform primarily given it, so that when the bridge wire is engaged withthe clips the end coil of the spring is held under a distinct tensionand made very slightly elliptic. The extremities of the bridge wires arebent back toward each other so as to hold the ends of the clips reliablyagainst spreading apart, and inasmuch as the space between the two armsof each cli is just suflicient to accommodate the thic ess of the wiresof the coils, it follows that at these hinge connections they are heldreliably in the same plane.

Heretofore it has been customary to twist the extreme end of the wirewhich forms the outermost large coil of the spring around the nextsmaller coil to provide a suitable finish for the end of the spring, butI prefer to save the expense of so doing, and at the same time provide asomewhat etter construction, by making the end of the large coilterminate just beyond one of the inset or offset portions thereof, asthe case may be, so that the clip holds this end, and in order toconnect the terminal coil to the next subjacent coil I provide an offset8 in the spring at the pomt which marks the juncture of the first andsecond coils; this offset. 8 being so shaped as to be engaged by thatpart 7 of the bridge wire which passes through the eyes of the clip.Inasmuch as the space inside the clip is just sufficient to accommodatethe three wires embraced, it follows that the coils at the point 8 arethus perfectly and reliably united and, that this union is accomplishedb the same means which serves to tie toget er the contiguous springs.

By reason of the fact that the bridge wires are individual to theseveral springs, i. e. they in no instance extend radially outside ofthe spring to which they pertain, it follows that they do not in theslightest interfere with the folding up of the structure along any ofthe lines of connection between the springs. It is also obvious thatthese bridge w1res, one at each end of each string,serve to absolutelconfine the smaller inner coils agai st telescoping through the outer.termlnal coils, and thuspreclude the possibility of bending the coilstogether or past each other far enough to give them a permanent set.

Inasmuch as the brid e wires are alternately arranged at rig t angles toeach other in the successive s rings of any givenrow, and inasmuch asthe terminal coils of the springs are capable of being distortedslightly, z. e. sprung out of their normal sha e, in a direction atright angles to the bri ge wires, it follows that the surface of thespring structure is slightly elastic; the aggregateelasticity of a glvenrow extending the full length or width of the bed being substantial.This is a feature of much importance when the spring structure is usedinside or beneath a thin mattress, because each individual part of thesprin structure will yield to accommodate the body. The importance ofmaking the bridge wires the several the pliability of the springstructure and yet does not seriously sacrifice its strength.

While I have herein shown and described what I deem to be the bestembodiment of my invention, nevertheless modifications may be madewithout de arting from the spirit thereof. For exampYe, it will be notedthat the bends are not internested with corresponding bends in the ad'acent wires yet they are nevertheless reliably confined by the clipsand bridge wires, and this at once suggests that it is not absolutelyessential that the other wires be actually internested, z. e. bent insuch manner as to interfit, in order that they be held reliably inproper relation, although this is the preferred construction.Accordingly the claims hereto appended are to be construed broadly,except in so far as they are couched in specific terms.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a furniture spring structure, a series of coiled s rings arrangedside by" side with their terminal lar e coils in juxtaposition, theperipheral portions of said terminal large coils being provided withinterfittin abrupt radial deflections or bends, where y they are lockedagainst circumferential movement relatively to each other, and tyingdevices embracing said inter-fitting ortions, holding them in the sameplane an holding them against radial separating movement.

Ina furniture spring structure, a row of coiled sprin arranged withtheir terminal large cm s in juxtaposition, the peripheral juxtaposedportions of said terminal large coils bein provided with closelyfittinlg internesting fiends lying in the plane of t e surface of thespring structure, whereby said springs are locked againstcircumferential movement out of alinement with each other in the row,clips embracin said internested eripheral portions an holding them inthe same plane with each other, and bridge members extendi diametricallyacross every alternate spnng in the row and connecting the clips of thatstructure, a set spring.

3. n a furniture sprin in rows in two of coiled springs arrangedirections at right angles to each other and with the peripheralportions of their large terminal coils in juxtaposition, the juxtaposedperipheral portions of said terminal large coils being provided withclosely fit- 13o ting internested abrupt shoulders or bends, natesprings in each row and in each direchinging devices embracin andtilengc1S toi tion being arranged at right angles to each gether thejuxtaposedshou ders or other.

contiguous springs, and a bridge member OZELLO R. HUNT. 5 extendingdiametrically across the terminal Witnesses:

coil of each sprin and tyingxits o posed ALBERT H. Maven,

sides together, the ri ge mem rs o alter- Ennim Ross.

